Don't Stand So Close to Me
"Don't Stand So Close to Me" (also called "Don't Stand So Close" or "Don't Stand") is a 1980 song and hit single by the British rock band The Police. The Police won the 1982 "Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" for this song. A re-recorded version of the song was released in 1986 as "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86". Background[edit source | editbeta] The music and lyrics of the song were written by the lead singer of The Police, Sting, who had previously worked as an English teacher. In a 2001 interview for the concert DVD ...All This Time, Sting denied that the song is autobiographical. The line "Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov" alludes to Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita which covers somewhat similar issues.[1] "Don't Stand So Close to Me" appeared on The Police's album Zenyatta Mondatta (A&M), and became a hit 'No.1' UK single[2] along with a corresponding music video. In the US, it reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #10. In the UK, the track was confirmed by the end of 1980 to have been the biggest selling single of that year. The B side, "Friends", was written by Andy Summers and is inspired by Stranger in a Strange Land, a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein. Sting was asked to perform on Mark Knopfler's "Money for Nothing" as he was in Montserrat at the time, and reused the melody from "Don't Stand So Close to Me" in the counterpoint lyric "I want my MTV". It was only after this story was related to reporters during promotions for the Brothers in Arms album that lawyers for Sting became involved, and later copies of the album co-credit the song to Sting. The initial pressings list only Mark Knopfler. It is one of only two shared songwriting credits on any Dire Straits album. Personnel[edit source | editbeta] *Sting - lead and backing vocals, bass guitar *Andy Summers - guitars, guitar synthesizer *Stewart Copeland - drums Track listing[edit source | editbeta] ;7" - A&M / AMS 7564 (UK) #"Don't Stand So Close to Me" - 4:03 #"Friends" - 3:37 ;7" - A&M / AMS 2301 (US) #"Don't Stand So Close to Me" - 4:03 #"A Sermon" - 2:34 "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86"[edit source | editbeta] |} The song was re-recorded in 1986 in a new, brooding arrangement with a different chorus and a more opulent production. The new version appeared as "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" on the album Every Breath You Take: The Singles, and was released as a single, reaching number 24 in the British charts.[2] It also reached number 11 in Ireland, number 14 in New Zealand, number 19 in Netherlands MegaCharts Singles Chart (number 20 on Dutch Top 40), number 27 in Canada[3] and number 46 on Billboard Hot 100 (number 10 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks). The single was reportedly one of the first commercial CD singles ever produced.[citation needed] Because of the decrease in tempo, a slight lyric change is found in the line "Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov" (the word 'famous' was added). A new music video was produced for the reworked song by Godley and Creme, notable for its early use of animated computer graphics. Because drummer Stewart Copeland had broken his collarbone and was unable to drum, he opted to use his Fairlight CMI to program the drum track for the single. While singer/bassist Sting pushed to utilize the drums on his Synclavier instead, the group's engineer found the Synclavier's programming interface difficult—and took him two days to complete the task. Copeland ultimately finished the drum programming and claimed that the Fairlight's then-legendary "Page R" (the device's sequencing page) saved his life and put him on the map as a composer. In aQantas inflight radio program named "Reeling In The Years", Copeland was quoted as saying that the argument over Synclavier versus Fairlight drums was "the straw that broke the camel's back", and led to the group's unraveling. As the Police had already disbanded by the time the 1986 single was released, this was the last recording before the band's reunion and the most recent studio recording the band has released to the present day. Track listing[edit source | editbeta] ;7" - A&M / AM 354 (UK) #"Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" - 4:47 #"Don't Stand So Close to Me" (Live) - 3:40 ;12" - A&M / AMY 354 (UK) #"Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" (Dance Mix) - 6:32 #"Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" - 4:47 #"Don't Stand So Close to Me" (Original Version) - 4:03 #"Don't Stand So Close to Me" (Live) - 3:40 ''Glee'' cover[edit source | editbeta] |} The song was covered in the episode "Ballad" of the American television series Glee in 2009. It was performed by the character Will Schuester (played by Matthew Morrison) as a musicalmashup with "Young Girl" by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap. It was included on the second soundtrack album from the series. The single version charted at number 67 in Canada, number 64 in the United States and number 50 in Ireland. Category:1980 singles